Integrated service management system

• US 7,099,912 B2
• Filed: 04/24/2001
• Issued: 08/29/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Ishizaki, Takeshi, Miyake, Shigeru
• Primary Examiner(s): PWU, JEFFREY C
• Application Number:
  US09/841,710
• Publication Number:
  US 20020156828A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,953 Days
• Field of Search: 709/201, 709/218, 709/245, 709/249, 709/223, 709/244, 709/215, 709/219, 707/10, 370/397, 718/100
• US Class Current: 709/201
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4641 Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4675 Dynamic sharing of VLAN information amongst network nodes configuration of the network or of network elements H04L41/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/082 the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/40 using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5061 characterised by the interaction between service providers and their network customers, e.g. customer relationship management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/091 Measuring contribution of individual network components to actual service level

Abstract

The present invention provides techniques for creation, operation and management of network-based storage services. Specific embodiments provide improved efficiency of the service management tasks used for designing, operating and accounting the robust and profitable network services, for example. In representative embodiments, techniques for constructing integrated network and storage services are provided. In a specific embodiment, the service comprises of three major service components: virtual private networks (VPN), application servers and storage area networks (SAN). Each of these service components has its own customer identification information, such as VPN identifier for VPN services, process identifier for application servers and logical unit number (LUN) for storage devices.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a connection to a virtual private network;

a router, connected to said virtual private network, wherein said router maintains at least one virtual router for a client, wherein the router receives packets from the virtual private network, each packet having a VPN ID, wherein the router uses the VPN ID and a dedicated virtual routing table to filter packets to the virtual router associated with the VPN ID, wherein the virtual router adds tag information based on the VPN ID to the packets before transmitting the packets to the virtual LAN switch, thereby enabling virtual separation of packets within the router and enabling IP addresses spaces within a private address range to overlap between different clients;

at least one server, each server having server identification information;

a virtual LAN switch, connected to said router, said virtual LAN switch providing selectable forwarding of information from said router to said at least one server, said virtual LAN switch using the tag information and a dedicated server table to forward the packets to an appropriate one of said at least one server;

at least one volume;

an FC switch, wherein said FC switch provides selectable interconnection between said at least one server and said at least one volume, wherein the FC switch uses the server identification information and a storage table to determine an appropriate one of said at least one volume, to confirm rights of the server to access the determined volume, and to forward the packets from the server to the determined one of said at least one volume;

at least two subsystem management systems for controlling configuration of at least two of the router, the virtual LAN switch and the FC switch;

an integrated service management system communicatively coupled to the at least two subsystem management systems and for controlling configuration of the at least two subsystem management systems; and

a customer portal application communicatively coupled to the integrated service management system and enabling a customer to issue configuration requests to the integrated service management system.

2. The system of claim 1, the at least two subsystem management systems including a virtual private network management system that controls operation of said router.

3. The system of claim 2, said virtual private network management system further comprising:

a network interface module that receives commands from an integrated service management system, a service order processing module that analyzes and executes the commands, updates a table of virtual private network information, and sends new configuration information to said router through a control module.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein said virtual private network management system stores the virtual routing table, said virtual routing table having a VPN ID that identifies a specific VPN, an Address 1 and an Address 2 that hold IP addresses of two end points of said specific VPN, a Protocol that specifies a VPN protocol that is used on said specific VPN, an Internet flag that indicates whether access to public Internet is permitted, and a VLAN ID that is assigned to packets received over said specific VPN.

5. The system of claim 1, the at least two subsystem management systems including a server management system that controls operation of said virtual LAN switch.

6. The system of claim 1, the at least two subsystem management systems including a storage management system that controls operation of said FC switch.

7. The system of claim 1, said integrated service management system further comprising:

a network interface module that receives requests to change configuration, a service order processing module, that analyzes and executes requests to change configuration received by said network interface module, updates related table cache in a service management database, and sends new configuration information using said network interface module.

8. The system of claim 7, further comprising an operator console application that sends a request command to change service configuration to said integrated service management system.

9. The system of claim 7, further comprising a customer portal application that sends a request command to change service configuration to said integrated service management system.

10. The system of claim 7, said integrated service management system further comprising a service configuration table, said service configuration table having destination information.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein said integrated service management system stores the server table, said server table having a server identification, an address, a virtual LAN identification, an application identification, an operating system identifier, and a CPU information.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein said integrated service management system stores the storage table, said storage table having a volume identifier, a port identifier, a server identifier, a capacity identifier, and access information.

13. The system of claim 7, said integrated service management system further comprising a service mapping table, said service mapping table having a customer identifier, a virtual private network identifier, a server identifier, and a volume identifier.

14. The system of claim 7, said integrated service management system further comprising a service status table, said service status table having a customer identifier, a virtual private network status, a server status, and a volume status.